Tiger Woods won’t be there to defend the 14th major he won a year ago in the sweltering heat at Southern Hills, and Greg Norman won’t be there to tease us again. But the 90th PGA Championship this coming weekend at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Mich., isn’t without interesting subplots. Here’s a look at four:

WILL YOUTH BE SERVED?

Norman’s flirtation with victory at the British Open made for a good story line given the 53-year-old came from nowhere to try to rewrite all the disasters of past majors. Still, the PGA Tour’s future is its young stars such as Anthony Kim and Brandt Snedeker, who need to make the most of Woods’ absence due to knee surgery by capturing a major of their own.

Kim, 23, has won twice this year at Wachovia and the AT&T National, while Snedeker, 27, finished tied for third at the Masters and tied for ninth at the U.S. Open. Both would love to break through at Oakland Hills.

“I think everybody is trying to seize that opportunity,” Kim said, “and definitely for guys like Brandt and myself, it’s a great opportunity for us to make a name for ourselves and stamp our name in the golf world.”

As much as Norman saved the British Open, golf – especially American golf – needs its younger players to step forward.

“Without Tiger, we actually have a chance now, so it’s kind of nice,” Snedeker said. “I hate to say it, but it’s kind of nice not to have him here beating up on us every week. Right now, we have a chance at least to kind of take advantage of this time and really try to improve our games.”

BITTER GREENS

The greens at Oakland Hills have baffled golfers since they were designed by Donald Ross in 1917, and locals swear they’re more difficult than those at Augusta National. Pat Croswell, the head pro at Oakland Hills since 1987, describes the greens as a series of “ledges and plateaus.” During the 1985 U.S. Open, Andy North played to an area on the green where he had the best chance to two-putt. The strategy helped him win the tournament at 1-under par. Ben Hogan won the 1951 U.S. Open there and nicknamed the South Course “The Monster” largely because of the greens. After the 1991 Senior Open, Jack Nicklaus said there was a not a tougher set of greens in championship golf.

CALLING DR. REES

Famed golf architect Rees Jones was hired in 2002 to tweak Oakland Hills in preparation for this PGA Championship. The work was concluded last spring and was extensive enough for Phil Mickelson to say, “It’s a different golf course,” from the one he played during the 2004 Ryder Cup. The course has been lengthened by almost 400 yards to about 7,445 yards, and hazards and landing areas have been shifted to make play more difficult. The pond at No. 7 has been enlarged and the par-4 11th that played 398 yards in the 1996 U.S. Open is now 455 yards with a 289-yard carry over a rolling hill. None of the famed greens has been moved. Jones’ father Robert Trent Jones enhanced Ross’ original design on the South Course in 1950, and Rees wanted to stay close to those specs. “Oakland Hills is one of those wonderful, rolling pieces of property where the holes fit like a glove,” Rees Jones said. “This course meant the most to my father.”

RYDER CUP

The PGA is the final tournament for American players to compile points toward making the US Ryder Cup team that will take on the Europeans next month at Valhalla outside Louisville. The top eight will qualify automatically for the team. Paul Azinger will complete the squad with four captain’s picks on Sept. 2. Players such as Rocco Mediate, Zach Johnson and Snedeker will need strong showings to either make the team automatically or convince Azinger they’re playing well enough to be a captain’s pick. Ditto for some Europeans, who are on the bubble of making their squad, including Darren Clarke, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Ross Fisher.